Method and apparatus for the casino Feng Shui game

ABSTRACT

A game of chance using a carousel wheel having an inner wheel divided into six inner wheel segments, a middle wheel divided into twelve segments, and an outer wheel divided into twenty-four outer equal segments. Each of the segments bears one of four secondary designations. When the carousel is spun, each of its wheels rotate with its own independent degree of freedom; when the spinning stops each of the inner wheel segments aligns itself with two of the middle wheel segments and four of the outer wheel segments. The game can be played in a casino game parlor having multiple tables for two to four players that use one or more carousel wheels displayed about the parlor, or each table, or some of the tables, can have their own carousel, or the game can be played by two or more players remotely located, each of which has an electronic device that is connected to the other players of the game. Each player receives a session set of ten markers, one of which represents a spot on the inner wheel, three of which represent spots on the middle wheel, and six of which represent spots on the outer wheel. Winnings for each player for each spin of the carousel are determined by a set of rules tied to odds for various possible combinations influenced by any exercise of an optional betting declaration.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of games of chance. In particular, thisinvention discloses a casino gaming method and apparatus requiring bothluck and skill for the players to win. This game is used primarily forentertaining and gambling purposes in casinos but can also be made intoa board game for the general public. In particular, the concept of thisgame relates to the Chinese folk culture of Feng Shui (Wind and Water)and the twelve Chinese Zodiac animal signs and the game therefore isexpected to have a much stronger appeal to people with Chinese or Asianheritage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mahjongg has been a popular gambling game in the Far East played amongfamily members and friends in social circles for as long as one canremember. During the early '50's, there were Mahjongg parlors in mostmajor casinos in Las Vegas to accommodate gamblers of Asian heritage,particularly Chinese, to play the Mahjongg game. The playing of Mahjongggames, particularly when there are quite a few tables located close toone another, is a very noisy affair because of the constant bangingsound of the tiles when the game is in progress. But it is the loudnoise that is generated when the tiles are being periodically shuffledthat most people cannot stand except for the players themselves. Untilthe time when the Mahjongg parlors no longer existed, most casinooperators in Las Vegas could withstand such annoyances as long as theseMahjongg parlors generated good incomes for them. Over the years,however, the derived incomes from the operation of Mahjongg parlors incasinos could no longer justify their existence. Consequently, by theearly 1980's, most Mahjongg parlors had disappeared from the casinogambling scene in Las Vegas.

The absence of Mahjongg parlors in Las Vegas casinos have been quicklyreplaced with parlors playing other gambling games such as Poker andBaccarat. However, the appeal of these new gambling games can hardlymatch that for the Mahjongg to the ethnic gamblers who simply love toplay Mahjongg because of their cultural background. In order to attractback some of this class of gamblers, who have long been recognized asbeing loyal and high-gambling, some casino operators over the years havetried to import Chinese style gambling games such as “Pai Gau”, “FanTan”, and various exotic dice games etc. to the Las Vegas casinos. Theresults, however, have been mediocre at best and certainly notspectacular as they would hope.

Thus, there exists a need with Las Vegas casino operators since theearly 1980's for a new gambling game to take the place of Mahjongg. And,such a game would also be useful in many other casinos outside of LasVegas, wherever gambling is allowed by law. However, the promises thatthis new game must deliver, both to the casino operators and to theethnic gamblers, are indeed overwhelming. Let us start with theexpectations of the casinos from operating successfully such a game. Thefirst and most important issue to them is the everyday net income fromoperating such a game. The game must be able to generate, even in theworst gambler occupancy capacity of 10-20%, sufficient income to coverthe facility and staffing overhead and a return on investment not lessthen 10%. Second, the game should not pose any unacceptable risk offinancial liability to the operator from such occurrences as injuries tostaff or players, property damage, intellectual propertiesinfringements, publicity slanders etc. Third, the game must be veryappealing to an average player and much more so to ethnic players.Fourth, the initial setup investment to run such a game must bereasonable and fall within the return on investment expectation.Finally, the game must be not only be very interesting to the gamblingfolks but also be very easy for them to learn to play.

For the players, especially the ethnic gamblers who seek to find areplacement for the Mahjongg game in casinos, the expectations from themare equally overwhelming. Some of these expectations are the same asthose for the casino operators, but they will be repeated here for thesake of completeness. First, they expect a game just as fun to play, orclose to it, as the Mahjongg. Second, since they love to gamble, thisgame must satisfy them to the extent that they can win big money if theyare lucky. Third, this game must afford them to play as short or as longa time as they please without any encumbrance. Fourth, like the Mahjongggame, players can play with their family members or close friend and notplaying against the casino establishment or other strangers. Finally,this game must be very easy to learn, easy to master in a very shorttime without having to remember any rules, make any complicateddecisions or calculations in order to play. In short, the game must beone of the “no-brain” types because, after all, they are just simplepeople that love to gamble.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to a new game played with acarousel wheel having an inner wheel divided into six inner wheelsegments, a middle wheel divided into twelve segments, and an outerwheel divided into twenty-four outer equal segments; each of thesegments bearing its own unique designation and one of four secondarydesignations. In addition to the carousel, the game uses 40 markers(which can be tiles, cards, or even represented electronically). Four ofthe markers represent four of the spots on the inner wheel of thecarousel, twelve of the markers represent each of the spots on themiddle wheel of the carousel, and twenty-four of the markers representeach of the spots on the outer wheel of the carousel. In the inner andouter wheels, the secondary designations are used for consecutive blocksof three and six segments, respectively. The two segments of the innerwheel that are not represented by a marker each have their own secondarydesignation that is different from the secondary designations used withthe segments of the inner wheel that are represented by a marker. Whenthe carousel is spun, each of the inner, middle and outer wheels rotatewith its own independent degree of freedom and after the carousel isspun and each of the wheels has rotated, each of the inner wheelsegments will align itself moving outwardly from the inner wheel withtwo of the middle wheel segments and four of the outer wheel segments.

In a first, separate group of aspects of the present invention, thesecondary identifications are colors; the six unique inner wheeldesignations are a Harmony designation (which may be red), a Northdesignation, an East designation, a Flood designation (which may beblack), a South designation and a West designation; the twelve uniquemiddle wheel designations are the twelve animal signs of the ChineseZodiac which may be arranged to follow the sequence of the ChineseZodiac; and the twenty-four unique outer wheel designations are numbers1 through 24 which may be sequenced to increase monotonically from 1 to24. The positioning of the unique designations of the three wheelsrelative to one another in a given wheel can remain fixed or be variedwhen the carousel is spun.

In other, separate aspects of the present invention, the game can beplayed in a casino game parlor having multiple tables for two to fourplayers that use one or more carousel wheels displayed about the parlor,or each table, or some of the tables, can have their own carousel. Also,the game can be played by two or more players remotely located, each ofwhich has an electronic device that is connected to the other players ofthe game.

In still other, separate aspects of the present invention, the game ofthe present invention is played by two to four players who first receivea session set of ten markers, each of which has one marker representinga spot on the inner wheel, three markers representing spots on themiddle wheel, and six markers representing spots on the outer wheel. Foreach session spin of the carousel, at least one of the players can beallowed to make an optional betting declaration in which the playereither does not use the player's marker for the inner wheel, or theplayer's marker for the inner wheel plus one marker for each of themiddle and outer wheels, or one player is designated the banker and thatplayer is allowed to place a six to one bet that one of that player'smarkers for the outer wheel will turn up in that player's session spinset of designations determined by a predetermined designation locationfor the player (which may be a pointer) for the spin. Next, the carouselwheel is spun and each player's session set of designations is comparedwith that player's session set of markers, plus any optional bettingdeclaration, to establish any winnings of each of the players from theother players for the session spin. Winnings for each player aredetermined by a set of rules tied to odds for various possiblecombinations influenced by any exercise of an optional bettingdeclaration. The session set of markers for each player is used foreight spins of the carousel and then each player receives a new sessionset of markers.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providean improved game of chance for use in casinos and elsewhere.

This and further objects and advantages will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art in connection with the drawings and the detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment set forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the carousel of the casino Feng Shui game.

FIG. 2 shows the three sets of asset tiles used to play the game. FIG.2A shows the set of Feng Shui asset tiles (4 in a set); FIG. 2B showsthe set of Animal asset tiles (12 in a set) and FIG. 2C shows the set ofTime Passage asset tiles (24 in a set).

FIG. 3 shows the layout of a typical Feng Shui parlor inside a casinofor the playing of the casino Feng Shui game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The presently invented game is designed to meet the expectations of LasVegas and other casino operators, as well as the players themselves,with special emphasis on satisfying ethnic gamblers, and especially theChinese. Before addressing the details of an especially preferredembodiment of the present invention, it will first be explained insummary fashion how these expectations are met, and then the especiallypreferred embodiment will be described in even greater detail later onin connection with the Figures.

In order to meet the expectation of the ethnic gamblers, especially theChinese, who love to play Mahjongg (normally played by four people)which has its origin dated back hundreds of years to ancient China, thepresently invented game uses the Chinese folk culture of “Feng Shui” andthe twelve Chinese Zodiac animal signs as backgrounds. Feng Shui inChinese means wind and water. Its origin dates back several thousandyears to ancient China. The geography of that vast land requires carefulconsideration when constructing a building since the mountain winds canbe severe and the lower areas are prone to flooding. Hence Feng Shuimeans wind and water. Today one tends to use Feng Shui to guide one tolook at how the placement of objects can bring harmony to theenvironment. It can be as simple as placing your couch in the bestlocation in your living room or as complex as placing your house in thebest location on your property.

Unlike the Western astrology which is related to the heavens or theZodiac and has 12 constellations or signs for astrological purposes, theChinese Zodiac uses twelve animal signs—namely Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit,Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar—in itsrepresentation. Each animal of the Chinese zodiac has its own specialcharacteristics. Many people in China believe that these characteristicsaffect events that happen during the year. Furthermore, they believethat people born in a certain year will have qualities of that year'sanimal. The presently invented casino game uses both the Feng Shui andthe twelve Chinese zodiac animal signs in the formation of its corestructure or carousel, which is used to determine the outcome of aparticular play for the game in the passage of time as represented bythe spinning motion of the carousel.

The present game is designed for two to four players to play. Since theplayers are basically playing against one another, any number of playersbetween two and four can play this game. Besides casino chips which areused as game money, the game equipment comprises a carousel and 40 assetmarkers, which are preferably tiles, but could take other forms, such ascards. Tiles are especially preferred because tiles are traditionallyused in Mahjongg games. The carousel is a composite structure of threewheels sharing a common axis but each of them has its own degree offreedom. In other words, each of the three wheels can either rotateclockwise or counterclockwise and can land at its own final spot orlocation independent of the others after a spin. Furthermore, themembers or contents of each of the three wheels can be made to shuffletheir respective positions during the spinning of the wheel. Thisfeature is purposely designed in, if needed, to increase the randomnessof the game. The innermost wheel is called the Feng Shui wheel, themiddle the Animal wheel and the outermost the Time Passage wheel. Thereare four pointers located at four distinct locations on the outsideperimeter of the outermost wheel. Before the game starts, each player(up to four) takes up one of the respective four pointers markedaccording to where the player sits around a square table for four. Whatcomes out of a spin for a player depends on where each of the threewheels respectively ends up at the player's pointer.

In addition to being assigned a specific pointer, each player takespossession of 10 asset tiles. The 40 asset tiles make up three distinctasset sets clearly marked on the back of the tiles for asset setdifferentiation, namely the Feng Shui set, the Animal set and the TimePassage set. The Feng Shui set has four asset tiles and they arerespectively the four wind directions East (E), South (S), West (W) andNorth (N). The Animal set has 12 asset tiles each is being representedby a zodiac animal. The Time Passage set has 24 asset tiles eachrepresenting a period of one hour and cover uniquely the 24 hours timespan of a day. Of the 10 asset tiles randomly picked by a player beforea play, one comes from the Feng Shui set, 3 from the Animal set and theremaining 6 from the Time Passage set.

The basic play for this game involves 1) the spinning of the carousel;2) determination of the spinning outcome for each player according tothe player's assigned pointer and 3) a comparison between a player'sspinning outcome with the player's asset tiles in order to determine theplayer's winning for that particular spin. Since the players are playingagainst one another, each player will pay the other players theirwinnings but will also receive winnings from them. Thus, a player willhave a winning spin if the player receives more than the player paysout. On the other hand, the player will have a losing spin if the playerpays out more than the player receives. The payment to the players byone another or the money settlement for each spin of the carousel mustbe completed prior to the start of another spin. The casino operatorwill demand a service charge from the players after a predeterminednumber of spins have been completed which can be one or four etc. and isthe sole choice for the casino operator.

As a casino game, a number of tables, typical 24 and each sitting fourplayers, can be set in a so-called Feng Shui Parlor having an area ofapproximately 3,000 to 5,000 sq. ft. The Feng Shui carousel can be setup electronically on three giant screens (16 ft.×20 ft. typical) onthree sides of the parlor such that every player, irrespective of wherethe player sits, can enjoy a clear view of the carousel. The spinning ofthe carousel on the screens is also electronically controlled by acasino staff (projection technician), although this function could beautomated if so desired. The next spinning of the carousel will start acertain amount of time after the sounding of an audible musical tone(e.g., 15 seconds) that alerts all players to get ready for the nextspin. The carousel can spin for approximately 10 seconds from start tostop. A fixed or variable amount of time (e.g., 30 seconds or until theprojection technician sounds the audible alarm) is allocated to themoney settlement for each spin. Accordingly, complete carousel play canbe completed, if desired, in a minute or less.

The rules for the players to participate in this casino Feng Shui game,the fulfillment of expectations desirous of casino operators and ethnicgamblers, together with a detailed description of this invention willnow be made along with reference to the accompanying Figures.

FIG. 1 shows the carousel 1 which is a composite structure of threewheels and four pointers for the respective players used to play thecurrently invented casino game. The innermost wheel 2 is called the FengShui wheel or the 1^(st) wheel. The middle wheel 3 is called the Animalwheel or the 2^(nd) wheel. The outermost wheel 4 is called the TimePassage wheel or the 3^(rd) wheel. The Feng Shui wheel 2 has six (6)equal segments or wedges each occupying 60° of angular span out of atotal of 360° for a full circle. Starting with any wedge 5 or “West” andgoing clockwise, the wedges are occupied respectively by “Harmony”,North (N), East (E), “Flood”, South (S) and West (W) again. When thiswheel is spun (electronically or otherwise), the stopping position ofthis wheel at the players' respective pointer 6, 7, 8 or 9 (pointer 9 inthis case shown) always ends up in the middle of a particular wedge 5 or“West”. In other words, each wedge 5 (“West”) of the 1^(st) wheel 2always encompasses two contiguous truncated wedges of the 2^(nd) orAnimal wheel 3 (in this case Rooster and Dog) and 4 contiguous truncatedwedges of the 3^(rd) or Time Passage wheel 4 (in this case “17”, “18”,“19”, “20”). In addition, only the “Harmony” wedge 10 is colored “Red”and the “Flood” wedge 11 “Black” while the “East” 12 and “West” 5 wedgesare colored “Green”and the “South” 13 and “North” 14 wedges are colored“Yellow”.

The middle wheel (or 2^(nd) wheel) 3 is the Animal wheel. The Animalwheel 3 has twelve (12) equal segments or wedges each occupying 30° ofangular span out of a total of 360° for a full circle. Starting fromtruncated wedge 15 or “Rat” and going clockwise, the truncated wedgesare occupied consecutively by “Ox”, “Tiger”, “Rabbit”, “Dragon”,“Snake”, “Horse”, “Goat”, “Monkey”, “Rooster”, “Dog” and “Boar”. Whenthis wheel 3 is spun, its stopping position at the players' respectivepointers 6, 7, 8 or 9 always ends up in the middle of two truncatedwedges 16 (in this case “Dragon” and “Rabbit” for pointer 6). In otherwords, as pointed out previously two truncated wedges of this wheel 3always line up exactly within one wedge of the 1^(st) wheel 2 (in thiscase wedge “East”) and encompass four (4) truncated wedges of 3^(rd)wheel 4 (in this case “5”, “6”, “7” and “8”). The three truncated wedges“Boar”, “Dog” and “Rooster” are colored “Yellow”, those three from“Rabbit”, “Dragon” and “Snake” are colored “Green”, those three from“Horse”, “Goat” and “Monkey” are colored “Black” and the remaining three“Rat”, “Ox” and “Tiger” are colored “Red”.

The outermost wheel 4 is the “Time Passage” or 3^(rd) wheel. This wheelhas twenty-four (24) equal segments or wedges each occupying 15° ofangular span out of 360° for a full circle. Each wedge of this wheel isalso truncated because of the over-shadowing by the 1^(st) wheel 2 andthe 2^(nd) wheel 3, and represents a period of one hour. The entire3^(rd) wheel 4 with its 24 wedges covers uniquely the 24 hours of a daystarting from midnight. Thus starting from truncated wedge 17 or “1” andgoing clockwise, the truncated wedges are occupied consecutively by the24 one-hour time periods, starting from “1” to “24”. When this wheel isspun, its stopping position at the players' respective pointers 6, 7, 8or 9 always ends up at the middle divider 18 of the four wedges (in thiscase “13”, “14”, “15” and “16” for pointer 7). In other words, aspointed out previously, four contiguous truncated wedges of the TimePassage wheel 4 always line up exactly within two contiguous truncatedwedges of the 2^(nd) wheel 3 and one wedge of the 1^(st) wheel 2.Truncated wedges “1” through “6” are colored “Black”, those from “7” to“12” are colored “Yellow”, those from “13” to “18” are colored “Red” andthe remaining “19” to “24” are colored “Green”.

FIG. 2 shows the three sets of asset tiles used for playing the game.The Feng Shui set 19 is shown in FIG. 2A. In this set, there are a totalof four (4) tiles representing the four wind directions East, North,West and South respectively. The Animal set 20 is shown in FIG. 2B. Herethere are 12 tiles and each represents the twelve different Chinesezodiac animal signs. The Time Passage set 21 is shown in FIG. 2C. Thereare 24 tiles representing the 24 time periods of one hour each, togethercovering the 24 hours of a full day.

The carousel 1 can be implemented on a PC or Laptop computer monitorscreen using custom developed software. The developed custom software iscapable of rotating the three wheels 2, 3 and 4 with different degreesof freedom and independently of one another, depending upon the degreesof freedom and characteristics sought for a given application. Forexample, the innermost wheel or 1^(st) wheel 2 and the outermost wheelor 3^(rd) 4 can be made to rotate in one direction (say, clockwise)while the middle wheel or 2^(nd) wheel 3 can be made to rotate in theopposite direction (counterclockwise). To start the rotation of thecarousel, all one needs is to press a button on the keyboard of the PCor Laptop like the “Space Bar”. The carousel will stop automaticallyunder software control after it starts to spin for a pre-determinedperiod of time, typically 10-15 seconds. Development of software toperform such functions is within the level of a person of ordinary skillin the art of computer programming, once that person is given thepresent disclosure and instructed what characteristics are desired(e.g., length of time for spin, directions of spin, etc.)

In addition to being able to spin the three wheels of the carouselindependently of one another, the developed computer software can alsoshuffle the positions of all the wedges within any one wheel while thecarousel is rotating. For example, the wedges of the 3^(rd) wheel 4might be ordered in monotonically increasing positions from “1” to “24to start. During the spin, all the positions of the wedges belonging tothe 3^(rd) wheel 4 can be independently varied, or shuffled, so thatwhen the carousel stops spinning, the positions of the wedges will nolonger be ordered monotonically increasing like before. Instead, thepositions of the previously ordered wedges will now be randomly arrangedaround the wheel. The same can be made to happen for the positions ofthe wedges in the 1^(st) wheel 2 or the 2^(nd) wheel 3 before and afterthe carousel spin. There is a subtle difference between rotating thethree fixed wheels independently of one another and the shuffling of thewedges in the three wheels. Statistically the results are only slightlydifferent in our current application with the shuffling of the wedgesbeing a little bit more random than the rotation of fixed wheels.However, the aesthetics of the rotating fixed wheels with differentdirections and speeds is more pleasing for the players to look at duringthe playing of the game.

Prior to the start of the game or the spinning of the carouselelectronically by the casino (i.e., by a casino projection technician,unless this function is automated), the four players (assuming thenumber of players to be four) sit at a square table with the positionsof the seat clearly marked to correspond to the respective pointers ofthe carousel to be spun. This way each of the four players will havebeen assigned a pointer position around the carousel before the start ofthe game. Next, one of the players throws three dice to determine whichplayer will start as the banker first. They then shuffle the asset tileson the table just like playing Mahjongg and arrange them neatly in stackof two's according to the three asset sets. Since the backs of the tileswill be color-coded according to which asset set the tiles belong, itwill not be difficult for the players to carry out this task.

The players then take turn to collect their 10 asset tiles each (onefrom the Feng Shui set, 3 from the Animal set and 6 from the TimePassage set) from the stacks of two's tiles and arrange the tiles infront of them. Next and before the carousel starts to spin, each of theplayers can declare how they would like to play the ensuing game. Theplayers need not take turns to declare their intentions and can makethem parallel in time. For any player, the player can either declare a“MUFF 1” or “MUFF 3” option play, but not both. By a “MUFF 1” optionplay is meant that the player purposely chooses not to count theplayer's one and only Feng Shui tile by placing the tile face-up infront of the rest of the player's asset tiles. By sacrificing thepossibility of scoring a “Triple Match” or Feng Shui spin (see below),the player earns double winnings for matches achieved with the player'sremaining tiles. By a “MUFF 3” option play is meant that the playerpurposely chooses not to count one tile each from the player's Animalasset tiles and Time Passage asset tiles, in addition to not countingthe Feng Shui tile. The player will show the three tiles face-up infront of the rest of the player's tiles. By giving up the matchingopportunities afforded by the three tiles, the player earns triplewinnings for matches achieved with remaining tiles.

The banker (only one player can be the banker at any one time) has oneextra option to gamble and it is called the “Number Bet”. From the sixTime Passage asset tiles that the banker possesses, the banker can putup one and place it face-up in front of the player's other tiles. Thebanker can then place a bet behind this tile. The maximum for the“Number Bet” is five units of gambling (the betting limit can beoptionally set according to the desire of the casino operator). For the“Dollar” tables, the unit of gambling is one dollar. For the“Five-Dollar” table, the unit of gambling is five dollars and so on.Suppose a player is betting one unit of gambling in a “Number Bet” andis playing at a Dollar table. Since the odds of matching one number isexactly 6:1, if the banker matches this number with the spin outcome(see below), then the banker wins six units of gambling or $6 from eachof the three players in this case. If the banker fails to match thisnumber with the spin outcome, the banker has to pay each of the threeplayers one unit of gambling or $1.

To determine the winnings after every spin of the carousel each of thefour players compare the outcome of the spin with the player's ownpointer position to see if there are any matches from the carousel withthe player's asset tiles. A player can collect winnings from the otherplayers according to the following payout schedule: Matching one wedgein each of the three 10 units of gambling wheels (“Triple Match”)Matching one wedge in any two wheels  4 units of gambling Matching onewedge in any wheel  1 unit of gambling

If there is a “Color Match”, meaning there is a common color showing upin each of the three wheels (other than the “Harmony” and “Flood” wedgesof the Feng Shui or 1^(st) wheel), the above winnings will be doubled.

Finally there are the so-called “Harmony” and “Flood” spins. The“Harmony” spin occurs when all wedges of the three wheels are “Red”. Theplayer receives 50 units of gambling from the other players. The “Flood”spin occurs when all wedges of the three wheels are “Black”. In thiscase the player pays the other players 50 units of gambling. Note thatwhen either the “Harmony” or “Flood” spins take place, all other matchesdo not count. The casino operator can take a fixed percentage or payout(e.g., 5% or 10 units of gambling) of all money transactions from suchoccurrences.

After the completion of eight (8) spins of the carousel (number can bedecided by the casino operator), the asset tiles will be reshuffled andthe players will receive their ten (10) new asset tiles before any morespins take place.

To enhance the playing efficacy in the casino for the currently inventedFeng Shui game, several additional rules to play this casino game aresuggested as follows:

-   -   1. Player can join in (if there is vacancy at the table) at any        time and leave the table at any time without encumbrance.    -   2. The minimum gambling money (capital) to join is 200 units of        gambling. For example, for a Dollar table, the unit of gambling        is $1 so the minimum initial capital required will be $200.    -   3. The “All Out” gambling rule applies to this game. This means        that as long as a player has money left before a round (spin)        starts, his loss obligation shall not exceed what the player has        before the spin. But the player will have to leave the table        when the player cannot fulfill the player's payout (loss)        obligation to the other players at any time. If the player        chooses to continue, the player will have to come up with        another minimum capital and fulfill any payout obligation before        the player can participate in the next spin.    -   4. The rules “MUFF 1” and “MUFF 3” shall always be enforced. The        rule of “Number Bet” will also be always enforced for the        banker.    -   5. Banker shall change from one player to the next after each        spin of the carousel in a selected direction (e.g.,        counterclockwise).    -   6. If a player decides to vacate when it is the player's turn to        be the Banker, the Banker will be advanced to the next player.        No player who first joins a table to play can be the Banker at        the time of joining.    -   7. The casino's service fee for sponsoring the Feng Shui game        shall be one unit of gambling per spin of the carousel. In        addition, the casino operator will also collect 5% of any money        transaction when a “Harmony” or “Flood” or both occur during the        game.

Let us now discuss why the presently invented casino game will meet theexpectations of the casino operators. Referring to the earlierdiscussion, one of the most important issues to a casino operatorwilling to start a new game is the net income and the return oninvestment. From the standpoint of operation, let us make the followinganalysis. FIG. 3 shows a 3,000 sq. ft. room used to house 24 tables eachsitting four players for playing the casino Feng Shui game. Also shownin FIG. 3 is the presence of three casino staff members working at alltime, one of whom shall be the screen projection technician. The outlayper month of operation for the casino can be summarized, based upon atheoretical operation, as follows: Staff salaries assuming $30/Hr.inclusive of overhead $64,800 and 3 shifts of 8 Hrs. each . . . 3 × $30× 24 Hr × 30 days 3,000 sq. ft space inclusive of utilities andinsurance $15,500 Depreciation (assuming $50,000 initial capitalinvestment  $2,000 to set up Casino Feng Shui game Total expenditure permonth to operate casino $82,300 Feng Shui game

The anticipated income per month from service fee based upon 2 minutesper carousel spin, $1 per spin per table (all 24 are Dollar tables) andaverage playing capacity of 30% . . . 60/2×24 Hr.×30×0.3×24×$1 . . . $155,520

Thus, from an extremely conservative projection, the monthly profit forthe casino operator is $ 73,220 per month or $878,640 per year. (Notethat the breakeven occupancy of players averaged over 24 hours is 15%.)Should one fourth of the tables be $5 tables, the profit will be doubledto $ 1,757,300 per year. Furthermore, if the average player occupancyover 24 hours is 50% instead of 30%, the profit will be almost ˜3M peryear! Thus from the anticipated operational income standpoint, thecurrently invented casino Feng Shui game easily meets the expectationsof the casino operator.

As for the other expectations of the casino operator such as freedomfrom financial liabilities, potential injuries to staff or players,property damages etc., the currently invented casino Feng Shui game issimilar to other table games like Craps, Poker, Blackjack, Baccarat etc.and should therefore pose no unacceptable level of such threats.

Now from the expectations of the potential players, especially theethnic types such as the Chinese, this game is literally invented forthem trying to fill the void left by the absence of Mahjongg parlors incasinos. No casino games have ever been advanced to date with this depthof focus to special interests of potential players before. First of all,using the Chinese folk culture of Feng Shui and Chinese zodiac animalsas background to design this game is certainly unprecedented. There isvery little doubt that from the cultural point of view, this game willfare very well with the gamblers of Chinese ethnic background.

Since the Chinese love to gamble, this casino Feng Shui game is designedas a truly gambling game. The gambling action is fast and furious yet itis very simple to learn to play. Winning techniques to play this gamehave been borrowed from the earlier Mahjongg game so that for those whoknow how to play Mahjongg, they should have no difficulty at allcatching on to the playing subtleties of this game. Finally, whencompared to the Mahjongg game, the currently invented casino Feng Shuigame can be played in a much more relaxed manner by simply watching thebeautiful carousel spin and then gracefully come to a stop to reveal theplay's outcome. In many ways, playing this game is like playing a numberof other popular table games combined. In certain ways the casino FengShui behaves like a slot machine. It also has the look and action of aroulette game. Furthermore, it carries many aspects of the venerableMahjongg game and a touch of Baccarat and Poker. But by far the mostexciting attribute of this game is its furious gambling action for boththe players and the casino operator. Every spin of the carousel, moneywill change hands, sometimes relatively small, but it could be verylarge dependent upon the taste of the player and luck. With suchcharacteristics, this game should quickly become the talk of Las Vegas,the darling game for Chinese ethnic gamblers and a winner for all thosewho love to gamble!

However, the present invention, while ideally suited for use in LasVegas, or other casinos, is not limited to such locations. Indeed, thecasino Feng Shui game described and disclosed herein can be configuredas an independent game set just like the Mahjongg set which can bepurchased by anyone to use at home or on outdoor camping trips orelsewhere to play among family members and friends. In this case thecustom developed software is provided in a CD and can be loaded to anyelectronic device with a display, such as a PC or laptop computer usinga CD driver, but without the need of any special application software.The computer monitor screen will replace the giant screens set up in acasino Feng Shui parlor to display the carousel outcome during the gameplay. Alternatively, the custom developed software can be downloadedonto an electronic device, like certain currently existing cell phonesor PDAs, and then played using the display screen of such devices. Insuch a scenario, or on the camping trip, tiles or chips (or some otherform of marker) can be provided with the CD.

Alternatively, the casino Feng Shui game described herein can be adaptedfor use or play by players in a networked environment, such as theInternet. The software necessary to play the game, including softwarethat will represent the 40 asset markers, and even the gambling unitsbeing used, or a relative score between the players, can all be part ofa software program that is either client or server based. Also, in thesame manner that current websites (e.g., Yahoo® or MSN®) provide parlorsfor various games, such as backgammon or card games, the same could bedone with the casino Feng Shui game described herein. Indeed, there canbe casino Feng Shui tournaments played online in the same fashion thatpoker tournaments are presently available online. Or, casino Feng Shuitournaments could be played in a casino. Also, even within a “Feng Shuiparlor” of a casino, the game can be played by using a common carousel,or one or more tables could have their own carousel that could be spunonce all of the players at the table are ready for the next spin.

While the invention has been described herein with reference to certainpreferred embodiments, those embodiments have been presented by way ofexample only, and not to limit the scope of the invention. Additionalembodiments thereof will be obvious to those skilled in the art havingthe benefit of this detailed description. Further modifications are alsopossible in alternative embodiments without departing from the inventiveconcept. For example, although it is believed that it would be far lessaesthetically desirable, there is no reason why all of the segments neednecessarily be of equal sizes, or why they would have to precisely lineup when forming a player session spin set of designations, and suchminor departures from the description of the preferred embodiment do notfall outside of the scope of the present invention. Similarly, one couldalways alter the odds for certain matches or odds associated withoptional betting declarations by the players. However, every game musthave rules, and, in this case, the rules have been established by theinventor of the new casino Feng Shui game with an eye toward anexciting, desirable game. Still, just like there are many variants onthe game of poker, there can be many variants to the play, rules andcharacteristics of the game set forth in this disclosure.

Accordingly, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that stillfurther changes and modifications in the actual concepts describedherein can readily be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the disclosed inventions as defined by the following claims.

1. A game, comprising: a carousel wheel with an inner wheel divided intosix inner wheel segments, each of which bears a unique inner wheeldesignation; a middle wheel divided into twelve segments, each of whichbears a unique middle wheel designation; and an outer wheel divided intotwenty-four outer equal segments, each of which bears a unique outerwheel designation; a first set of four markers, each of which uniquelyrepresents a single unique inner wheel designation such that the firstset of four markers represents four of the unique inner wheeldesignations; a second set of twelve markers, each of which uniquelyrepresents a single unique middle wheel designation such that the secondset of twelve markers represents all twelve of the unique middle wheeldesignations; and a third set of twenty-four markers, each of whichuniquely represents a single unique outer wheel designation such thatthe third set of twenty-four markers represents all twenty-four of theunique outer wheel designations; wherein one of the unique inner wheeldesignations, a first contiguous group of three of the unique middlewheel designations and a first contiguous group of six of the outerwheel designations bear a first secondary identification; wherein one ofthe unique inner wheel designations, a second contiguous group of threeof the unique middle wheel designations and a second contiguous group ofsix of the outer wheel designations bear a second secondaryidentification; wherein two of the unique inner wheel designations, athird contiguous group of three of the unique middle wheel designationsand a third contiguous group of six of the outer wheel designations beara third secondary identification; wherein two of the unique inner wheeldesignations, a fourth contiguous group of three of the unique middlewheel designations and a fourth contiguous group of six of the outerwheel designations bear a fourth secondary identification; wherein thecarousel can be spun so that each of the inner, the middle and the outerwheels rotate with its own independent degree of freedom; and whereinafter the carousel is spun, and each of inner, the middle and the outerwheels have rotated, said wheels will stop such that each of the innerwheel segments will align itself moving outwardly from the inner wheelwith two of the middle wheel segments and four of the outer wheelsegments.
 2. The game of claim 1, wherein the first, the second, thethird and the fourth secondary identifications are colors.
 3. The gameof claim 1, wherein the six unique inner wheel designations arecomprised of a Harmony designation, a North designation, an Eastdesignation, a Flood designation, a South designation and a Westdesignation; and wherein the first set of markers represents the North,East, South and West designations.
 4. The game of claim 3, wherein thelocation of the North designation in the inner wheel is opposite theSouth designation, the location of the East designation in the innerwheel is opposite the West designation, the location of the Harmonydesignation in the inner wheel is opposite the Flood designation; andwherein the Harmony designation bears the first secondaryidentification, the Flood designation bears the second secondaryidentification, the North and the South designations bear the thirdsecondary identification and the East and West designations bear thefourth secondary identification.
 5. The game of claim 4, wherein thefirst secondary identification is a red color.
 6. The game of claim 5,wherein the second secondary identification is a black color.
 7. Thegame of claim 6, wherein the third and fourth secondary identificationsare two colors other than red and black.
 8. The game of claim 1, whereinthe twelve unique middle wheel designations are comprised of twelveanimal signs of the Chinese Zodiac.
 9. The game of claim 8, wherein thelocation of the twelve animal signs of the Chinese Zodiac in the middlewheel relative to each other is such that they follow the sequence ofthe twelve animal signs of the Chinese Zodiac for a given twelve yearperiod.
 10. The game of claim 7, wherein the twelve unique middle wheeldesignations are comprised of the twelve animal signs of the ChineseZodiac.
 11. The game of claim 1, wherein the twenty-four unique outerwheel designations are comprised of comprised of the numbers 1 through24.
 12. The game of claim 10, wherein the twenty-four unique outer wheeldesignations are comprised of the numbers 1 through
 24. 13. The game ofclaim 11, wherein the twenty-four unique outer wheel designations areordered in monotonically increasing positions from 1 to
 24. 14. The gameof claim 1, wherein the positioning of the unique designations relativeto one another in at least one of the inner, the middle or the outerwheels is varied when the wheel is spun.
 15. The game of claim 1,wherein each of the first, second and third set of markers is comprisedof a set of tiles.
 16. The game of claim 15, wherein each tile of thefirst, second and third set of markers has a marking to identify whetherit is in the first, second or third set of markers on one of its sidesand a second marking on its other side to represent its uniquedesignation of one of the inner, middle or outer wheel designations. 17.The game of claim 1, wherein each of the first, second and third set ofmarkers is comprised of a set of cards.
 18. The game of claim 1, whereineach of the first, second and third set of markers is electronicallygenerated and represented on an electronic display mechanism.
 19. Thegame of claim 18, wherein the game can be played by two or more playersremotely located, each of which has an electronic device that isconnected to the other players of the game.
 20. A casino game parlor,comprising: at least one carousel wheel with an inner wheel divided intosix equal inner wheel segments, each of which bears a unique inner wheeldesignation selected from a group consisting of a Harmony designation, aNorth designation, an East designation, a Flood designation, a Southdesignation and a West designation; a middle wheel divided into twelveequal segments, each of which bears a unique middle wheel designationrepresenting one of twelve animal signs of the Chinese Zodiac; and anouter wheel divided into twenty-four equal outer segments, each of whichbears a unique outer wheel designation of a number from 1 to 24; and aplurality of tables, each of which is comprised of: four playingpositions; a first set of four markers, each of which uniquelyrepresents one of the unique inner wheel designations; a second set oftwelve markers, each of which uniquely represents one of the middlewheel designations; a third set of twenty-four markers, each of whichuniquely represents one of the outer wheel designations; and a pluralityof unit gambling markers; wherein the Harmony designation, a firstcontiguous group of three of the unique middle wheel designations and afirst contiguous group of six of the outer wheel designations bear afirst secondary identification; wherein the Flood designation, a secondcontiguous group of three of the unique middle wheel designations and asecond contiguous group of six of the outer wheel designations bear asecond secondary identification; wherein two of the group consisting ofthe North, the East, the South and the West designations, a thirdcontiguous group of three of the unique middle wheel designations and athird contiguous group of six of the outer wheel designations bear athird secondary identification; wherein the other two of the groupconsisting of the North, the East, the South and the West designations,a fourth contiguous group of three of the unique middle wheeldesignations and a fourth contiguous group of six of the outer wheeldesignations bear a fourth secondary identification; wherein thecarousel can be spun so that each of the inner, the middle and the outerwheels rotate with its own independently degree of freedom; and whereinafter the carousel is spun, and each of inner, the middle and the outerwheels have rotated, said wheels will stop such that each of the innerwheel segments will align itself moving outwardly from the inner wheelwith two of the middle wheel segments and four of the outer wheelsegments.
 21. The game of claim 20, wherein the first secondaryidentification is red, the second secondary identification is black, andthe third and fourth secondary identifications are two colors other thanred and black.
 22. The game of claim 20, wherein the location of thetwelve animal signs of the Chinese Zodiac in the middle wheel relativeto each other is such that they follow the sequence of the twelve animalsigns of the Chinese Zodiac for a given twelve year period.
 23. The gameof claim 22, wherein the twenty-four unique outer wheel designations areordered in monotonically increasing positions from 1 to
 24. 24. The gameof claim 20, wherein the positioning of the unique designations relativeto one another in at least one of the inner, the middle or the outerwheels is varied when the wheel is spun.
 25. The game of claim 20,wherein each of the first, second and third set of markers is comprisedof a set of tiles.
 26. The game of claim 20, further comprising a secondcarousel wheel.
 27. The game of claim 26, wherein the two carouselwheels are synchronized so that they both display the same results forwhen they are spun.
 28. The game of claim 20, wherein each of theplurality of tables further comprises its own carousel wheel.
 29. Thegame of claim 28, wherein the carousel wheel of each of the plurality oftables is not synchronized with the carousel wheel of any of the otherof the plurality of tables.
 30. A method of gambling for two to fourplayers, comprising the steps of: selecting a session set of markers foreach player, wherein the session set of markers is comprised of: a firstmarker from a first set of four markers; three markers from a second setof twelve markers; and six markers from a third set of twenty-fourmarkers; wherein each of the first set of markers uniquely represents asingle unique inner wheel designation of an inner wheel of a carouseldivided into six inner wheel segments, each of which bears its ownunique inner wheel designation; wherein each of the second set ofmarkers uniquely represents a single unique middle wheel designation ofa middle wheel of the carousel divided into twelve middle wheelsegments, each of which bears its own unique middle wheel designation;wherein each of the third set of markers uniquely represents a singleunique outer wheel designation of an outer wheel of the carousel dividedinto twenty-four outer wheel segments, each of which bears its ownunique outer wheel designation; wherein one of the unique inner wheeldesignations that is not represented by the first set of four markers, afirst contiguous group of three of the unique middle wheel designationsand a first contiguous group of six of the outer wheel designations beara first secondary identification; wherein a second of the unique innerwheel designations that is not represented by the first set of fourmarkers, a second contiguous group of three of the unique middle wheeldesignations and a second contiguous group of six of the outer wheeldesignations bear a second secondary identification; wherein two of theunique inner wheel designations, a third contiguous group of three ofthe unique middle wheel designations and a third contiguous group of sixof the outer wheel designations bear a third secondary identification;and wherein two of the unique inner wheel designations, a fourthcontiguous group of three of the unique middle wheel designations and afourth contiguous group of six of the outer wheel designations bear afourth secondary identification; allowing at least one player to make anoptional betting declaration; spinning the carousel wheel so that eachof the inner, the middle and the outer wheels rotate with its ownindependent degree of freedom and, after the spinning has stopped, eachof the inner wheel segments will align itself moving outwardly from theinner wheel with two of the middle wheel segments and four of the outerwheel segments to form a session spin, and each of the players will havea player session spin set of designations made up of one of the innerwheel designations, two of the middle wheel designations and four of theouter wheel designations, wherein the player session spin set ofdesignations is determined by a predetermined inner wheel designationlocation for the player; and using each player's session set ofdesignations with said player's session set of markers, plus anyoptional betting declaration, to establish any winnings of each of theplayers from the other players for the session spin.
 31. The method ofclaim 30, wherein the players are remotely located and the session setof markers for each player is electronically displayed.
 32. The methodof claim 30, wherein the six unique inner wheel designations arecomprised of a Harmony designation, a North designation, an Eastdesignation, a Flood designation, a South designation and a Westdesignation; wherein the first set of markers represents the North,East, South and West designations; and wherein the twelve unique middlewheel designations are comprised of twelve animal signs of the ChineseZodiac.
 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the twenty-four unique outerwheel designations are comprised of the numbers 1 through
 24. 34. Themethod of claim 30, wherein the outer and inner wheels rotate in adirection opposite the rotation of the middle wheel when the carousel isspun.
 35. The method of claim 30, wherein the predetermined inner wheeldesignation location for each of the players for the session spin isdetermined by a pointer for that player.
 36. The method of claim 30,wherein winnings for each player are determined by a set of rulescomprised of: (1) if all ten of the player's session set of designationsbears the first secondary identification, then that player receives 50units of gambling from each of the other players; (2) if all ten of theplayer's session set of designations bears the second secondaryidentification, then that players pays 50 units of gambling to each ofthe other players; (3) if either (1) or (2) applies for the sessionspin, then no other rules apply for the session spin; (4) if there is amatch between the player's session set of designations with the sessionset of markers in each of the inner, the middle and the outer wheels,then the player receives 10 units of gambling from each of the otherplayers; (5) if there is a match between the player's session set ofdesignations with the session set of markers in only two of the inner,the middle and the outer wheels, then the player receives 4 units ofgambling from each of the other players; (6) if there is a match betweenthe player's session set of designations with the session set of markersin only one of the inner, the middle and the outer wheels, then theplayer receives 1 unit of gambling from each of the other players; and(7) if there is a match of the secondary designation in the player'ssession set of designations between a player's session marker in each ofthe inner, the middle and the outer wheels, then the player receivestwice the number of gambling from each of the other players that wouldotherwise be awarded according to (4) through (6).
 37. The method ofclaim 36, wherein each player may make the optional betting declarationof choosing not to play the player's marker from the first set ofmarkers in connection with the session spin.
 38. The method of claim 37,wherein the rules for any player making the optional betting declarationset forth in claim 36 are modified as followed: said player is noteligible to receive or pay out units of gambling pursuant to rules 1, 2and 7 based upon said player's session set of designations; and anywinnings the player might otherwise receive from rules 5 and 6 aredoubled.
 39. The method of claim 36, wherein each player may make theoptional betting declaration of choosing not to play the player's markerfrom the first set of four markers and one of the player's markers fromthe second and third set of markers in connection with the session spin.40. The method of claim 39, wherein the rules for any player making theoptional betting declaration set forth in claim 36 are modified asfollowed: said player is not eligible to receive or pay out units ofgambling pursuant to rules 1, 2 and 7 based upon said player's sessionset of designations; and any winnings the player might otherwise receivefrom rules 5 and 6 are tripled.
 41. The method of claim 36, wherein oneof the players is designated as a banker for the session spin who isallowed to select one of said player's markers from the third set ofmarkers and place a number bet that said selected marker will beincluded in the banker's session set of designations for the sessionspin and receive six times the number bet from each of the other playersif said selected marker is included in the banker's session set ofdesignations for the session spin but be required to pay one times thenumber bet to each of the other players if said selected marker is notincluded in the banker's session set of designations for the sessionspin.
 42. The method of claim 30 wherein the session set of markers foreach player is used for eight spins of the carousel and then each playerreceives a new session set of markers.